Nordics not attractive enough: Ryanair boss

“Attractive ladies” not enough for tourism, O’Leary says
On a visit to Stockholm, Michael O’Leary, chief executive of the low-cost carrier Ryanair said Sweden was not doing enough to boost visitor numbers and attract businesses from other parts of Europe.
Sweden has costs that are too high, plans a new travel tax and allows employees to strike, he said at a press conference, The Local reports.
“You’ve got good football teams and generally attractive ladies, but other than that I don’t wanna go here,” he told journalists. “We go where the growth discounts are.”
He said that airport operator Swedavia should have a “credible or a realistic growth scheme that will encourage not just Ryanair but all of the airlines – will encourage Norwegian, will encourage SAS – to grow here.”
Sweden has an image problem as a destination, he told The Local.
“I think it needs to be more encouraging, it needs to have a greater welcome towards European business. You know the Nordic region tends to be a bit kind of isolationist. They need to do more to encourage people to visit here. I mean they have beautiful cities, but you know you have the Norwegians now looking at a travel tax, the Swedes are looking at a travel tax. Nothing could be more damaging for tourism up here.”
Ryanair operates from Stockholm’s distant Skavsta airport and from Gothenburg. O’Leary revealed at the press conference that it aims to launch a new route from Skavsta in 2016, to Gdansk.The Local